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Dean says GOP using him to divert attention from issues

WASHINGTON — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that Republicans are trying to create controversies over some of his recent statements in order to divert attention from issues like rising gas prices, Social Security deficits and escalating violence in Iraq.

"You know, I think a lot of this is exactly what the Republicans want, and that's a diversion," Dean said after a private meeting with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in Reid's Capitol office.

"The truth is that we need to focus on exactly the issues that Harry Reid just talked about, and we're going to," Dean told a crowd of reporters. "We hardly had discussion about what's going on in the media circus and all that stuff in the last two weeks ... and we understand how exciting it all is for you."

He added: "What we're focused on is how to have a decent Social Security system, how to have a strong national defense, how to have jobs in America again, how to deal with incredibly high gas prices and get a decent energy bill which actually will do something about gas prices."

Dean has been criticized by Republicans for some recent comments, including his observation that the GOP is "pretty much a white Christian party" and that a lot of Republicans "have never made an honest living in their lives."

Several well-known Democrats have also chastised Dean for those comments, most notably, onetime presidential campaign rival John Edwards and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, both of whom emphasized that the chairman did not speak for the party alone.

Reid tried to laugh off questions from reporters seeking his opinion of Dean's recent remarks, noting that "there isn't a single person ... that haven't (sic) misspoken" occasionally. He was apparently alluding to his own comments of late - that President Bush is a "loser" and a "liar."

Reid has apologized for calling Bush a "loser," but in Rolling Stone, when the magazine interviewer noted the apology, the senator emphasized, "But never for the 'liar,' have I?"

The Republican National Committee did not respond to Dean's remarks Thursday, but congressional Republicans sought to continue portraying the outspoken former Vermont governor as controversial.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the third ranking Republican in the House, noted that while Democrats may be "quick to publicly distance themselves from Dean," they "can't hide the fact that their national party chairman remains a sought-after presence in closed-door strategy sessions."

Reid said his meeting with Dean, which preceded a much larger luncheon meeting with the entire Democratic membership of the Senate, was a discussion of "common sense reforms for the issues that (average Americans) care about, including the price of gas, health care costs, education prices, the solvency of Social Security and the war in Iraq.

"We're going to continue to talk about a positive agenda, no matter how people focus on other issues," Reid said.

"We're going to talk about our agenda - we're not going to let the Republicans set the agenda," Dean said. And to the reporters, he added, "And to be quite honest, we're not going to let you set the agenda."